Georgia: Girl, 5, whose body was found hidden in concrete identified after 35 years
A five-year-old girl whose body was found encased in concrete in the US 35 years ago has finally been identified, police say – and her mother and a live-in boyfriend have been charged with her murder.
DNA tests and a crucial tip given earlier this year finally gave officers the breakthrough they needed, as they named the young victim – known for decades as Baby Jane Doe – as Kenyatta Odom.
She was killed in her hometown of Albany, Georgia, before her body was dumped 110 miles away outside the city of Waycross, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Jason Seacrist said.
The little girl was discovered among broken furniture and other rubbish left in woods on 21 December 1988, by a man who stumbled upon a TV cabinet filled with concrete.
He called the Ware County Sheriff’s Office, with officers arriving the same day and starting an investigation that would remain largely stalled for more than three decades.
“Baby Jane Doe is no longer unnamed, is no longer unknown,” Mr Seacrist said.
“The baby that was thrown out into a trash pile has been identified, and we’re working to bring justice to her.”
Police in Georgia say they have finally identified the young girl. Pic: AP
The girl’s mother, 56-year-old Evelyn Odom, and Ulyster Sanders, her boyfriend at the time, were arrested on Thursday and remained in custody on Monday.
A grand jury indicted both on charges of felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, concealing a death and other counts.
Sheriff Carl James, who was one of the detectives sent to the scene that day, said he “really was not prepared for what we were about to find”.
Officers discovered a box concealed in the concrete with a duffle bag. Inside that bag was a child’s body wrapped in a blanket.
Mr James said the case always held a special interest for him and that, over the decades, investigators followed hundreds of leads and tips, most of them leading nowhere.
Decades passed with authorities unable to match the remains to any missing children and only a copy of The Albany Herald newspaper found nearby giving a clue to the child’s origins.
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In December last year, officers once again made a public appeal for any information, with a reward offer of $5,000 (£4,070) from an anonymous donor.
Then a woman called in January this year with a critical tip.
“She knew that there had been a child who had gone missing and that her mother said that the child had gone to live with her father,” Mr Seacrist said.
“This person never really believed that story.”
That tip helped investigators to finally identify young Kenyatta and bring charges in her death.
He wouldn’t comment on a possible motive or how the girl died, although news outlets reported the indictment said the child died after her feet and legs were submerged in hot water.
District Attorney Greg Edwards said: “We believe that there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that will lead to justice being found for Kenyatta.”
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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